Remote control device



Feb. 5, 1935. w cAss k 1,989,739

REMOTE CONTROL DEVI CE Original Filed June 22, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 QIn RADIO RECEIVER LU =2 h] I! INVENTOR WILLIAM E CASSEDY, JR.

ATTORN Y w. F. CASSEDY, JR 1,939,739

REMOTE CONTROL DEVICE Original Filed June '22, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2FIG. 2

lNVENTOR WILLIAM E CASSEDY, JR.

ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 5, 1935 'UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE REMOTECONTROL DEVICE William F. Cassedy, Jr., Millburn, N. J., assignor toInternational Communications Laboratories, Inc., Newark, N. J., acorporation of New York Application June 22, 1932, Serial No. 618,708

Claims. (Cl. 250) This invention relates to remote control devices, andparticularly to devices for the remote control of a radio receiver. Byremote control is meant control from any point other than the setitself. For example, the remote point may be a favorite armchair only afew feet removed from the set, or the radio set may be put in a closetor cellar and the remote point be a considerable distance away.

In co-pending application, Serial No. 400,575, filed October 18, 1929 byWilliam J. Gillule, a remote control for a radio receiver is shown inwhich a pulley is keyed to the shaft of a plurality of gang condenserswhich control the tuning of the set. The pulley is rotated by a wire orother tractile element enclosed in a sheath. /The tractile element iswound around a drum at the re- -mote point, which drum is turned by asuitable mechanism, in this specific case, a worm drive. A spiral springat the radio set resists the motion of the tractile element when it isoperated to Wind on the drum at the remote point. The spring, of course,assists the operation of tuning the set in the reverse direction, thatis, the direction for which the tractile wire unwinds from the drum atthe remote point. Means are also provided in the Gillule application forturning the set on and oil at the remote point and for controlling thevolume from the remote point.

When a radio set is provided with means for controlling its operationfrom a remote point,

it is desirable that it shall also be possible to control the setlocally, that is, by means of dials and switches located on the panelbehind which the set is mounted. With apparatus such as that disclosedin the Gillule application it is impossible to provide this dualcontrol, as the knob which turns the condensers locally will not operateagainst the pull of the wire in the sheath, and the knob which turns thedrum at the remote point to turn the condensers will not operate againstthe friction of the local tuning knob and gearing.

An object of this invention is to provide means for controlling a radioreceiver, or any apparatus which may be operated in a similar manner,from the receiver itself or from a remote point.

A feature of the invention is the provision of a driven element keyed tothe condenser shaft, two driving elements operated by a local knob andremote tuning control respectively, and a differential cam which may beoperated by the tuning knob at the receiver to release the drivingelement connected to the remote point from the driven element, and'connect the driving element to the driven element at the local point;and which may also be operated by the tuning knob at the remote point torelease the local driving element from the driven element and connectthe remote driving element thereto.

From whichever end a radio set may be controlled at any particular time,it is desirable to be able to control the volume of the received signalsfrom the end from which the tuning of the receiver is controlled.

Another object of this invention is to provide means which may becontrolled from the set or from the remote point for switching thevolume control to the point from which the set is to be controlledsimultaneously with switching the tuning control for that point.

In the drawings, like numbers refer to similar (parts throughout.

Fig. l is an exploded view in perspective of the apparatus comprisingthe device, with the remote control shown diagrammatically;

Fig. 2 is a front View of the base plate of the device;

Fig. 3 is an end View of the base plate;

Fig. 4 is a front view of the pulley operated from the remote point bythe tractile element;

Fig. 5 is an end View of this pulley;

Fig. 6 is a front view of the driven element which is keyed to thecondenser shaft;

Fig. 7 is an end view of the driven element;

Fig. 8 is a front View of the differential cam; and

Fig. 9 is an end View of the difierential cam.

A condenser, or plurality of condensers 1, connected in the circuits ofa radio receiver, may be operated to tune the receiver to any frequencyin the range for which it is adapted. These condensers are fixedlymounted on a shaft 2 which may be turned to tune the set. The shaft 2projects through the center of a base plate 3. A spiral spring 4 isconnected at one end 15 to the base plate 3, and at the other end 16 toa hub 5 (Fig. l) The connection 16 is shown diagrammatically in Fig. 4.The hub 5 revolves in a bushing 61. The hub 5 is actually only aboutone-quarter inch long. A driving element 6 is secured to the hub 5 andis, therefore, loosely mounted on the condenser shaft 2.

element 6 has a groove in its periphery in which the sliding wire ortractile element 7 fits, and is adapted to be rotated by said wire 7.The wire 7 is connected to a drum at the remote point and is woundaround said drum by the operation The driving 0 the condenser shaft andturns the condenser shaft to tune the set whenever it is rotated. A

secondary shaft 9 is connected to the front of this driven element andon this'shaft is mounted a hub 10 to which is connected a second drivingelement 11 and a knob 12. The driving element 11 is controlled by theknob 12 located at the radio set. It will, therefore, be hereafterreferred to as the local driving element. The apparatus shown in Fig. lassembles into a very compact unit. An idea of the size of the assembledapparatus may be obtained from Fig. 3, which shows an end view of thebase plate 3. The shoulders of this base plate shown at the top andbottom of Fig. 3 are about one inch wide. A cover plate 1.3 isattachedto the base plate 3 by means. of screws passing through theholes 14 at the corners of the base and cover.

The remote driving element 6 fits snugly against an annular projection17 (Fig. 2) on the base plate, thus forming a casing for the spring 4.Attached to the remote driving element 6 is a driving arm 18, the end ofwhich has a cam surface 19 for engagement with a pawl 20. The drivingarm 18 rests against the inner surface of driven element sand pressesagainst this surface in an attempt to engage the notch 23 therein. Thisspring eifect is illustrated diagrammatically 4 by the small coil springshown attached thereto.

Shoulder 62 allows room for the driving arm between elements 6 and 8.The base member'S has four shoulders at the corners and these shouldershave sloping sections 20 to which plates 21 are attached by screws toform sleeves between the underside of the plates and a second slopingsection 22. A differential cam 24 has four arms 25 adapted to slidewithin the sleeves so formed. The cam 24 has a spring attached theretthe other end of whichis secured to the base plate,

which is attempting to pull it out of these sleeves. When the pawl 20 isin engagement with the cam 24, as shown in Fig. 1, it holds the caminposi tion. When the pawl 20, however, is released bycam surface 19 ondriving arm 18, the cam 24 is retained by the engagement of a finger 26on the cam with a stud 2'7 on the base plate. The driving armll hasthree prongs, 'shown in Fig. 1. Two prongs 28 press against the back ofthe cover plate to provide friction for the knob 12 to keep it in aposition to which it is set. The center prong 29 .presses against thefront of the driven element 8 and attempts to engage the notch 30therein and thus drive the condenser shaft. We thus have two drivingelements, the remote driving element 6 and the local driving element 11,each having a driving arm attempting to engage the driven element 8 inorder to control the ro tation of the condenser shaft. Between these twodriving arms is the differential cam 24 on which the driving arms slidewhen not in engagement with the driven element 8.

Before describing the operation of the device the remaining auxiliaryapparatus will be described. Since the condensers function to change thetuning of the radio receiver through 180, the two driving elements arelimited to 180 rotation. The remote driving element 6 has a'groove 31 intheback thereof for 186. A stop 32 is secured to the base plate'andadapted to densers.

with stops 35 secured to the cover plate.

ride in this groove. The stop 32 is 6 .wide so that the remote drivingelement 6 can turn through 180. The stop 32 protrudes through anaperture 33 in the base plate and is adjustable by means of a screw 34,so that the angular movement of the remote driving element may beadjusted to correspond with the movement of the condensers. Since thedriven element 8 is keyed to the condenser shaft, it is limitedin itsmovement by the stops that are used for the con- Driving element 11 isalso provided These steps are likewise adjustable, the adjustabilitybeing obtained by securing them to the cover plate off center, as shownin Fig. 1. c

It has been previously mentioned that it is desirable to be able tocontrol the volume of the received signal from the point at which thetuning of the set is controlled. A switch 36 is pro vided foraccomplishing this. A frame 37, to which the switch 36 is secured, isattached to the base plate by means of screws through the holes 38.Pivoted on a stud 39, mounted onthe base plate, is an insulatedarm 40..The switch members 41 and 42 normally make contact with contacts .onmembers 43 and. ,44. When the pawl 20 is released from engagement withthe notch 45 on differential cam 24, and the differential cam, thusreleased, moves in, a clockwise direction, finger 46 on this campressesagainst the under-surface of arm 40 and breaks the contactpreviously mentioned andmakes contact between switch members 41 and/42and corresponding members 47 and '48. As the diiferential cam 24 has anangular rotation of a few degrees one way or the other as theremote orlocal driving arm engages the driven element 8, the circuit throughswitch 36 is accordingly made or broken to switch the volume controlfrom the remote end to the local end and vice versa., Any suitablecircuits may be provided fort fi p e andfihey would be so simple that itis considered unnecessary to disclose them in this application.Ordinarily, the number of contact points provided would not be utilized,but as this unit. may be attached to any radio receiver a sufiicientnumber of contacts is provided to permit any circuit connections to bemade which may be desired. An arm 49 is secured to the base plate. A'toggle switch 50 may be attached thereto for turning the set on and be aportion of the panel of the radio receiver,

which would fit in between the knob 12and cover plate 13. A pointerindicates the condenser settings. At the remote end there are a similardial '72 and pointer 73 for indicating the setting whenrcontrolled fromthat end. Also, there is a knob '74 for controlling the volume by meansof potentiometer 75, and 'a switch 76 and dial light 77. A similardial'light and volume control would be provided at the receiver. Therewould not necessarilybe a separate switch at the control endsfor turningthe set on and off, as this is accomplished by means of the toggleswitch50, which -may be operated by'the' tuning control from either-end.

The differential cam 24 performs the function of releasing the controlfrom one end and permitting control from the other end. This cam has anangular movement through a few degrees. It

is moved in a counterclockwise direction by the driving arm 29. Thismovement occurs when this arm is turned to the position for a condensersetting of 100, assuming the dials to be graduated from zero to 100. Atthis point it engages a stud 56 on the differential cam. As shown inFig. 1, the differential cam 24 is set at its extreme counterclockwiseposition and is held in this position by the pawl 20. In order to permitit to rotate now in a clockwise direction, the remote driving arm mustbe turned to a position corresponding to'a dial setting of 100. At thispoint the cam surface 19 on'driving arm 18 engages the pawl 20 andremoves it from the notch 45. The spring attached to the differentialcam causes it to rotate in a clockwise direction. It can only move a fewdegrees, because of the contact of finger 26 with stud 27 and also thecontact of finger 46 with arm 40. As the arms 25 of the differential camslide inthe sleeves 22, which are sloping, this cam, in addition to itsangular movement, will also have a lateral movement parallel to the axisof the condenser shaft. As the driving arms 18 and 29 are pressedagainst the two sides of the differential cam, attempting to come intoengagement with the notches 23 and 30 thereon, this lateral movementwillhold one of these arms out of engagementwith its corresponding notch andpermit the other arm toengage the notch and thus control the rotation ofthe driven element 8 and the tuning of the set.

The operation of the device is as follows: assuming, first, that thetuning dials at the set and at the remote end are both set to zero andthat, when last in use, the set had been operated by the controls at theset. This being the case, the driving arm 29 will be in engagement withnotch 30 on the driven element 8, and driving arm 18 will be held out ofengagement with notch 23 by the diiferential cam 24. That is, thedifferential cam 24 will be in its counterclockwise position and will beheld by the pawl 20, as shown in Fig. 1. Now it-is desired to tune thereceiver by the local controls to a station which is received at 50 onthe dials. The knob 12 is turned up to 50. As driving arm 29 engagesnotch 30, the driven element 8 and the condensers 1 will be turned to50. As the driven element 8 moves away from the zero position, finger 53will engage prong 51 of toggle switch 50 and turn the set on. Thecontrol of the radio set may continue to be exercised from the setitself through the entire tuning range. When it is desired to shut theratio set off, the knob 12 is simply turned back to zero and the finger53 engages prong 52 of toggle switch 50 and turns the set 01f. Duringthe tuning control at the set the remote driving element 6 will remainstationary.

Now, assuming that the set has been tuned to 50 by means of the localknob 12 and that it is now desired to change the tuning of the set or toturn it off from the remote point. The operator at the remote pointturns the knob there for a condenser setting of 100'. The wire 7accordingly causes the driving element 6 and driving arm 18 to rotate toa corresponding position. No other portion of the apparatus shown inFig. 1 is affected, however as' the difierential cam 24 prevents thedriving arm 18 from engaging the driven element 8. When the drivingelement 6 has been rotatedto a position corresponding to a dial settingof 100, cam surface 19 on driving arm 18 comes in contact with pawl 20and removes it from notch 45. Spring causes differential cam 24 torevolve in a clockwise direction until finger 26 engages stud 2'7. Asarms 25 are set at an angle with the plane of the differential cam 24and slide in sleeves 22, the difierential cam, as it executes thisclockwise movement, will move a short distance in a direction parallelwith condenser shaft 2 toward the cover plate 13. The surface of thedifferential cam will then press against driving arm 29 and remove itfrom engagement with notch 30, and driving arm 18 will press against theback surface of driven element 8. The tuning knob at the remote point isthen turned back to a condenser setting of 50, the point to which theset was last tuned by the knob 12, of course turning the remote drivingelement 6 accordingly. When the driving element 6 reaches this point thedriving arm 18 will engage notch 3 on driven element 8. It is no longerheld out of such engagement because the difierential cam, whichpreviously prevented it from engaging this notch, has now been movedforward. Any further operation of the tuning control at the remote pointwill continue to turn the driving element 6 and will now also turn thedriven element 8 and the tuning condensers 1 secured to the shaft onwhich element 8 is mounted. Therefore, the timing of the set may now becontrolled over the entire range from the remote point. When it isdesired to turn the set off, the tuning dial is set to zero. Finger 53on driven element 8 engages prong 52 of the toggle switch 50 and turnsthe set off. Whenever it is desired to resume operation of the. set fromthe remote point, the dials will simply be turned to the settingcorresponding to the desired station. As the condensers move away fromthe zero setting, the finger 53 will engage prong 51 of toggle switch 50and turn the set on.

Assuming now that the set has been tuned to 50 from the remote point.The set will, of course, be turned on by the finger 53. It is nowdesired to operate the set at the set itself. This may not be donewithout a preliminary adjustment, as the differential cam 24 is keepingthe driving arm 29 out of engagement with notch 30 on driven ele-v ment8. The knob 12 is turned to a condenser setting 100, of course turningthe driving arm 11 accordingly. At this point, or a few degrees be-.fore reaching this point, driving arm 29 comes in contact with finger 56on differential cam 24 and moves the differential cam in acounterclockwise direction. Pawl 20 slips into notch 45 and holds it inthis position. When the differential cam is moved in thecounterclockwise direction, arms 25 slip into sleeves 22 and the entirecam moves toward the rear of the unit, that is, in a direction parallelwith condenser shaft 2 and farther away from cover plate 13. When thecam thus moves laterally, its back surface comes in contact with drivingarm 18 and removes it from engagement with notch 23 on driven element 8,and driving arm 29 presses against the front surface of driven element8. Knob 12 is then turned back to 50, since this is the point for whichthe set was last tuned from the remote. end. At this point driving arm29 will now engage notch 30 since it is no longer prevented from doingso by the differential cam 24, and any further operation of knob 12 willmove the condensers accordingly. When it is desired to turn the set off,the knob 12 is simply turned to zero at which point the finger 53operates toggle switch 50, as before, to turn the set off.

, ,To sum up the previous operations: when the set is being tuned fromthe remote end it may be tuned over the entire range andmay be turned ifit is desired to operate the set from the local end it is firstnecessary to turn the knob at that-end'to- 100 and then turn it back tothe point for which it was last set by the control at the remote end;after this the set may be tuned to any point in'its range from the localend or may be turned ofi: The operation just-summed up in the previous.sentence maybe reversed. That is, if control is first exercised at thelocal end the remote end. may take control in the manner just describedfor the local and the local end may regaincontrol in the manner justdescribed for the remote end. i

It has been previously mentioned that when differential cam 24 is in itscounterclockwise position, arms 41 and 42 are in contact with arms 4331101244. Sincein this position of the difierential cam the set is underthe control of the 'local knobs, these contacts will be used to completea circuit for controlling'the volume by means of .a

knob-on thepanel of the set itself. It has also been. previouslymentioned that when the differential cam 254 is in its clockwiseposition finger 46 presses against the lower surface of arm 40 andcausesanns al'and 42 to make contact with arms 1 used to complete acircuit for controlling the volume of the received signals by means of adial anda resistance, ,or any other suitable means, at the remote point.

What is claimed is:

l. A .remote control device comprising a first driving elementcontrolled from a remote point, a second driving element controlledlocally, an element tobe driven, differential means forcontrolling theengagement of said driving elements with saidv driven element, meanscontrolled by said first driving. element to operate said differentialmeans, and means rendered effective by operation of said difierentialmeans for connecting said first driving element to said driven'elemeritand controlling said drive-n element through its entire range ofoperation whilst said second driving element isin an intermediateadvanced positionand for preventing said second driving element fromcontrolling said driven-element.

2. A remote control device comprising a first driving element controlledfrom a remote point, a second driving element controlled locally, anelement to be driven, differential means controlling the engagement ofsaid driving elements with said driven element, means controlled by saidsecond driving element for operating said differential means, and meansrendered effective by operation of said differential means forconnecting'said second driving element with said'driven element andcontrolling it through its entire rangeof operation whilst said firstdriving element is in an intermediate advanced position, and forpreventing said first dritdng element from controlling said drivenelement.

'3. A radio receiver, means for tuning said re-,

differential means bodily movable. with ;respect to said driving anddriven elementsio-r alter.- natively controlling the engagement ofsaiddriving elements with said driven. element,v and means controlled bysaid first driving element for moving said clifierential means toreleasesaid second driving element and permit :said first drivingelement to control said Ldr-iven element through the entire frequencyrange'of said receiver. g

a. A radio receiver, means for controlling the volume of said receiver,means for tuning said receiver, means for operating said tuning meansfrom a remote point, means for operating said tuning means iocally,means alternatively controlling the: operation of said{twolast-mentioned means, .and means' operated by said alternativecontrolling means for switching the-volume-control o-i'said receiver tothepointrromwhich the tuning of said receiver is controlled.

5. A remote control device comprising a, first driving-elementcontrolled from a :remote'point,

a second driving element controlled locally, an element to be driven,meansfor controlling the engagement of said driving elements with saiddriven element, means controlled by said first driving element tooperate said first-mentioned means, and coupling means renderedeffective by operation of said second mentioned-means *for connecting"said 'first driving elementto said driven; element and controlling saiddriven element through its entire-range of operation whilst said seconddriving element is inanintermediate advancedposition, and forpreventingsaid sec ond driving element from controlling said drivenelement. j

,6. A remote control device comprising a first driving elementcontrolled froma remote point, a second driving element controlledlocally, element to be driven, means controlling theengagement of saiddriving elementswith wsaid driven element, means controlled-by saidsecond driving element for operating said first-mentioned means, andcoupling meansrendered effectiveby operation {of said second mentionedmeans for connectingsaid second drivingv element to said driven elementandcontrolling-it through its-entire range of operation, whilst saidfirst driving element is in an intermediate advanced position, and forpreventingsaid =first driving element" from controlling said drivenelement.

'7. A radio receiver, means including 'a rotatable shaft fortuning,said'receiver, ,a driven element fixed to said shaft, rotatable*drivirig elements onelocal-ly controlled and the other remotelycontrolled mounted concentrieally with said shaft and having a rotarymovementv independent thereof, an arm attached 150183011 driving elementmovable with respect thereto and engageable with said driven element forefiecting a driving connection therewith, ,anda cam operated by one ofsaid driving elements when disengaged from said, driven elementforinterrupting driving engagement between :the other driving element andthe driven'element :andfor causing :driving engagement to be establishedbe-. tween said one driving element and:said.=.driven element.

8.. A radio receiver," means including .a :rotatable shaftforatuningsaid receiver, a driven ele-' ment fixed saidshaft, rotatabledriving elements one locally controlledandthe other remotely controlledmounted concentrically with said shaft and having a rotary movementindependent thereof, an arm attached to each driving element movablewith respect thereto and engageable with said driven element foreffecting a driving connection therewith, and a cam operated by eitherof said driving elements to engage one of said arms and to disengage theother of said arms thereby to move said one arm out of drivingengagement with said driven element and to cause said other arm to moveinto driving engagement therewith.

9. A radio receiver, means including a rotatable shaft for tuning saidreceiver, a driven element fixed to said shaft, rotatable drivingelements one locally controlled and the other remotely controlledpositioned with said driven element therebetween and mountedconcentrically with said shaft and having a rotary movement independentthereof, an arm attached to each driving element movable with respectthereto and engageable with said driven element for effecting a drivingconnection therewith, and a cam positioned between said arms andoperated by either of said driving elements and moved under controlthereof to engage one of said arms and to disengage the other of saidarms whereby the said one arm is moved out of driving engagement withsaid driven element and the said other arm is caused to move intodriving engagement therewith.

10. A radio receiver, means including a rotatable shaft for tuning saidreceiver, a driven element fixed to said shaft, rotatable drivingelements one locally controlled and the other remotely controlledpositioned with said driven element therebetween and mountedconcentrically with said shaft and having a rotary movement independentthereof, an arm attached to each driving element movable with respectthereto and engageable with said driven element for effecting a drivingconnection therewith, an arcuate cam disposed about said driven elementand interposed between said arms, and means controlled by each drivingelement for causing said cam to move axially of said shaft thereby tointerrupt driving engagement between one of said arms and said drivenelement and to establish driving engagement between the other of saidarms and said driven element.

WILLIAM F. CASSEDY, JR.

